Yes, I believe that the proposed development would have a lower level of intrusion to the landscape than what's currently there. In light of that undeniable fact, it's nonsense to suggest it would have a significant impact.

We were up the top there at the end of last year messing about on the slag heaps and the wife turned up in a 4x4 (we thought to bollok us). Actually she just wanted to say she really wanted to encourage more young people to come to the area and to enjoy our day; but in future could we let her know as they are sometimes blasting!

Agree that existing eyesores aren't a reason to build more eyesores; however not sure a 20mm thick steel cable with the odd terified punter dangling from it fits that description.

But why does it need developing at all? So a reasonably big business can make more money? A single extra 'attraction' isn't going to attract more visitors.

There are zip wires only a few miles away in Whinlatter.

EDIT - I'm not sure what I think about the zip wire in question. I just don't like the argument that because Borrowdale is already 'scarred', it's fair game to put more stuff in there. I'd say the argument is 'don't do anything else to this already damaged close-as-we've-got-to-wilderness'.

I just don't like the argument that because Borrowdale is already 'scarred', it's fair game to put more stuff in there. I'd say the argument is 'don't do anything else to this already damaged close-as-we've-got-to-wilderness'.

Fix the Fells continually create incredible scars across the fells with the footpaths they build, and that's with the blessing of the National Park. That's also a part of the problem: there's an inconsistency with the decisions made by the park authority, Allerdale, and the County Council.

EDIT:

Employing more local people? They seem to be the ones objecting to the development

Fix the Fells continually create incredible scars across the fells with the footpaths they build, and that's with the blessing of the National Park. That's also a part of the problem: there's an inconsistency with the decisions made by the park authority, Allerdale, and the County Council.

I'd suggest that while it may have little visual impact, people screaming as they go and all this extra traffic that aracer reckons there will be would have an impact. And that while it may be a small impact, any increase at all is arguably a step in the wrong direction.

(I'm not really sure what I think about all this. I don't want to see 4x4s banned from anywhere, and yet I'm arguing against a zip wire. Today's been a long day...)

Employing more local people? They seem to be the ones objecting to the development.

Is that "local people" as in people from the area who might need a job, or who have offspring who need jobs, or is that "local people" as in retired to the Lake District five years ago and got nothing better to do than complain to the council about anything and everything "new fangled"?

Unfortunately, contrary to perhaps understandable superficial impressions, most of Honister Crag is in fact the very reverse of 'man-made'. It's in fact arguably the wildest bit of crag in England.

The site is an SSSI primarily because it is a stronghold of an extremely scarce vegetation community that is both extremely vulnerable to disturbance and, in terms the area it covers at Honister, unique south of the border.

Most of the broad ledge systems you see as you look up at the crag from the road carry extensive stands of what's known as 'Tall herb' communities. These are scarce habitat types, related to the alpine meadows of continental Europe. They are typically found on un- or lightly grazed upland cliff ledges, and restricted to base-rich substrates and sheltered situations.

Tall herb is highly valued for both representing one of the few totally natural habitats surviving in Britain and for providing a refuge for rare, grazing-sensitive, montane plants. As you can imagine, the bulk of the habitat - which is never abundant anywhere in the UK, is to be found in the Scottish Highlands. Honister is therefore outstanding in possessing a relative large amount of these plant communities; it is likely to possess more than half the Tall Herb to be found south of the border.

Unfortunately, it is incredibly easy to scuff away the plant cover by repeated footfall. The reason Honister Crag is such a stronghold is that the steep north-facing cliff ledges have been mostly inaccessible to grazing animals and humans, apart from, until now, the occasional adventurous scrambler or climber.

The advent of the cableways and stapled rock that the Honister company have put in has changed all that however and the reason why the company got fined nearly £30,000 by Natural England was because they originally put in a new 'Via Ferrata' without consultation - which resulted in a large amount of damage to the Tall herb stands.

This is why controversy over the proposed Zip Wire development isn't just about aesthetics - increasing the numbers of people traversing formerly untrodden ground is going to increase the risk of degrading an already-threatened part of our natural heritage. (The new application advocates using the existing Via Ferrate to gain access to the launching point - which itself would now be constructed on the Crag itself, rather than on the summit slopes as in the previous application. Implicit in this application therefore is that there will be a large increase in users and therefore potential footfall in sensitive areas).

You can see the damage the extent Via Ferrate is having in the pic below. Before it was put in the eroded ledge at the bottom was a stronghold of the scarce upland plant Globefower. Now it's nearly all been scuffed away and the rest is following it due to the continual passage of punters.